Stone cutter



Aug. 13, 1963 w. F. STEFANICK 3,100,481

STONE CUTTER Filed Aug. 8, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 60 o o 58 O o K I 1 E [/6 I O E I 56 0 "1E 2e 5 73 so 64 o 72 IN VE NTOR.

WILLIAM F STEFAN/(K ATT'YS 1963 w. F. STEFANICK 3,100,481

STONE CUTTER Filed Aug. 8, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR W/LL /AM 5 STEFAN/CK ATT'YS Aug. 13, 1963 w. F. STEFANICK STONE CUTTER Filed Aug. 8, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOP.

WILLIAM F 5TEFA/V/cK J7 -'%W #4 is an uneven split.

dust and gritcreatedby the splitting operation.

t gear reduction box.

United States Patent 3,100,481 STONE CUTTER William F. Stefanick, Kennedy Road, RR. 1, Millikan, Gntario, Canada Filed Aug. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 48,046 4 Claims. (Cl. 125-23) This invention relates to a machine for splitting stone and the like in slab form. By the term stone, I intend to include all hard substances in slab form such as, concrete, hard plastic compositions, etc. i

tis well known that stone can be 'efiiciently split between apair of chisel-like splitting blades and a variety rigid splitting blade and is depressed against the spring pressure by the dropping upper splitting blade.

The spring pressure must, of course, be great enough a to hold the slab of stone above the lower splitting blade as the stone is fed to the machine and in order that the machine is able to handle heavy stone pieces, a considerable spring strength is necessary. It will be apparent that as the upper splitting blade falls on the stone it first engages with the stone to depress the table and later the stone engages with thelower splitting blade. In some cases,especially with lighter pieces of stone, considerable pressure is exerted against the upper surface of the stone bythe upper splitting blade before the table is depressed sufiiciently for the stone to engage with the lower splitting blade and some splitting action takes place before the lower splitting blade is engaged by the stone. This results It is very much more desirable from the point of View of quality of the split in the stone to have the stone between both splitting blades at the time splitting pressure is initially exerted. This result is achieved with this invention. w

I provide a spring loaded feed table for advancing the stonebetween the blades, the forward edge of which is normally above the level of the lower blade to permit even.

feeding of the stone between the blades prior to cutting. As the upper splitting blade is dropped howeve-nfll provide means for lowering the feed table to a level below the tlower splitting blade before the upper splitting blade contacts the stone. Thus, from the beginning of the splitting operation. both the upper and lower splitting blades engage with the stone; t p p In addition, according to this invention, the means for reciprocating the upper splitting blade is mounted above the upper splitting blades so that it is remote from the way, I amableto. keep the running parts of the machine more free from the abrasive afiects of the dust from the cut stone' 7 I also have in my machine a means for exerting an even splitting pressure on an undulating slab surface.

This invention will be clearly understood after refer- In this once to the following detailed specification read in conjunctionwith the drawings.

In the drawings, i FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a stone splitting machine according to this invention.

FIGURE 2 is a detailed sectional view showing a crank for reciprocating the upper blade housing. I

FIGURE 3 is .a view showing the manner in which the main drive shaft is driven from the output of the FIGURE 4 is a side sectional view illustrating the means for advancing stone between the blades.

3,100,481 Patented Aug. 13, .1963

FIGURE 5 is a partial view showing the lower blade housing and certain parts of the upper blade housing in exploded form.

FIGURE 6 illustrates an alternative blade arrangement to that shown in FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 7 illustrates a still further blade arrangement.

FIGURE 8 is a top view of the chain for adjusting the upper bladeas'sembly and FIGURE 9 is an elevation of one end of the upper blade assembly.

Referring to the drawings, the stone cutter there illustrated comprises a frame formed by two steelside members I0 and I12 rigidly spaced apart by cross members such as the members 14 and 16. Cross support also comes from other transversely extending supports not shown and/ or specifically referred to.

The lower and upper splitting blades 18 and 2d respectively are mounted Within lower and upper splitting blade housings 22 and 24 respectively. The housing 22 sits rigidly within a cut-out in the side members 10 and 12 of the frame. The housing 24, however, is reciprooably chine. The crank rods 33 and 32 each threadedly engage with a sprocket 26 and 2-8 respectively, housed within a jaw on the upper side at each end of the housing 24.

Crank rods 3% and 32 freely pass through the housing 24 as illustrated in the drawings. A chain 34 operable by the hand crank 36 and associated sprocket 33 is adapted to rotate sprockets 26 and 23 in either direction at will, whereby one can wind the housing for the upper splitting edge upwardly or downwardly of the threaded crank rods 30 and 32. Numerals 40 and 42 are idlers carried by the housing 24-.for the purpose of takingup slack in the drive chain 34. It is by means of crank 36, as will be explained later that one can accommodate stone or the like of varyingthicknesses. u-

A5 bestcseen in FIGURE 8 of the drawings, the housing 24 for the upper splitting blade has bearing blocks 25 thatengage with guide bars 44 as it is reciprocated in a vertical direction in use.

Tlhe reciprocation of the splitting edge housing 24 is eifected by the rotationof crankshaft 52' which is suitably rotatablymounted with respect to the sides 10 and 12 of the machine in roller bearings such as the one 54 on the side 10 of the machine. The roller bearing similar to the one 54is provided on the side 12 of the machine but not illustrated in the drawings.

Crank 52 is driven by means of motor 56 mounted on the side of the frame through pulley 58 and gear reduction box 60, the output of which is taken from the gear 2 and transmitted eand of the crank shaft 52. These stub shafts are aligned and the one on the left hand side of the machine has been illustrated in detail in FIGURE 2 and is referred to by the numeral 68. The crank rod 30 is journalled to the stub shaft 68 as indicated in FIGURE 2 and it will be apparent that as the stub shaft 68 is carried in a circular path by the rotation of the crank shaft 52 crank rod 34) will be reciprocated.

to the shaft 52 through ohain64and sprocket 66, sprocket 66 of course being rigidly con- .nected to the shaft 52. A stub shaft extends from each up and down movement between the guides in the sides of the machine.

A stone slab to be cut, referred to by the numeral '70,

V is fed to the cutters on feedtable 72. A delivery table 73 e is provided on the back side of the cutters. Both the feed and delivery tables are swingably mounted in the frame as at 74- and 75 respectively and their edges which are adjacent the splitting blades are supported at each SidCjO-f the machine on springs 78 and 86 respectively. In this connection the supported edge of the 7 tables has a bar. 82 and 84 respectively extending entirely there across that protrudes beyond the'side of thefra me of the machine as seen in FIGURE 1; The free ends of these bars are joined by means of a flanged plate so a and the plate is in turnsupported by the springs 7 8 and 80. "It will'be appreciated that the support is the same at each side of the machine although it is illustrated-only at the left hand side as viewed in FIGURE 1.

The feed and delivery tables'are normally supported by means of the springs 78 and 80 so that their edges that are in close proximity to the blade are normally above the level of the bottom blade 18 and the strength of the springs 78- and 81: is such that when, one places a slab of stone or the like on the tables between the blades the' tables will not depress due to the weight of the stone to cause the stone to sit on the lower blade.

In use, the tables are deflected downwardly against the resilienceof the springs but, according to this invention, the downward deflection of the tables takes placefbefore the upper-blade engages with the stone,

whereby not even initial splitting can take place until both blades engage w-ith the stone. This achieves an even split;

Y The dropping of the tables prior to the taking place of the splitting action is achieved by the engagement of rods 'and32 will engage with and depress the plates 86 to carrythe table below the edge of the lower-blade 7 before the" upper blade engages with the stone.

The-machinezillustrated'incommonly used to split piecesof stone into two equal parts and in this respect, there is illustrated, an automatic means for advancing the stone the proper distance into the splitters.

bar 90 that moves a predetermined distance under the foroeof a tensioned spring 109 in response to the movement of a cam 102 on the driveshafit 52.

The-rnovement centres around the shaft 104 which extends transversely across the machine and is journalled between the sides 10 land lltheneof. Rig-idly connected to the shaft is a link 1% that pivotally connects at one 7 end with a'rod 108. Rod 138 extends upwardly to pivotally connect with'a link 11% which in turn is rigidly connected to a shaft 112 that extends across the machine and is journaled between the sides. 10 and 12 thereof in a suitable fashion. Also extending from the shaft 112 is a link 114 which has'a cam follower 116 at its free end for engagement with the cam 192.

A stopper arm 1 18 is also rig-idly mounted on the I transversely extending shaft 164. It has an adjustable screw 120 therein that in-use is adapted to engage with the stopper block 122. Screw 129 can be threaded inwardly or outwardly of the free end of the stopper arm 118.

A link 123 also extends downwardly from the shaft 104 and pivotally connects at its free end with a connector at the end of tension spring 160. The opposite end of Themeans for advancing. a slab of stone comprises a.

4 v tension spring 1% is secured to a stop at the front of the machine as at 124.

A connection between the shaft 104- and the feed-bar is achieved through a pair of links 126, one on each side of the machine, that each pivotally connect as at 128 with a support bar 130 that is free to slide in a horizontal direction on a roller 132. Extending upwardly from the support bars 130' at each side of the machine is an arm 134 to the free end of which is mounted the bar 99. The arms 13textend upwardly between the sides 10 and 12 of the machine and the feed-table 72. p

The tension on the spring 1% tends to urge the cam follower 116 into contact with the cam 102 and in use as the cam Hi2 turns from theposition indicated in FIG- URE 4 to cause. the flat side thereof to engage with the cam follower. The bar 9% moves forward under-the;

action of the spring and is limited in this forward movement by the engagement of the free end of the screw 12% against the stop 122. The cam sz is located on the shaft 52 such that the forward movement takes place when the splitting blade 29 is in a raised position. It will be apparent that the amount of forward travel of the bar 1 919 can be adjusted by varying the extension of the screw 120 through the stop-arm 1 18. As the rounded portion of the cam 1M, cyclically engages the-cam follower 116,

,the bar t is retracted to its rear limit. It=will be apparent from an examination of the cam that the feed motion of the bar 99 occurs once between each dropping of the splitting edge 20.

This machine has a blade that is made in sections so that the. splitting edges will adjust themselves to the contour of an uneven slab of stone within limits. means by which i achieve this adjustment is illustrated'in FIGURE 5 of the drawings which shows a lower split ting blade assembly and a part of the upper cutting'blade assembly exploded to show construction.

The assembly comprises a frame 2% which has a back plate 292 and a front plate similar to the back plate but not shown. A series of splitting blade segments 204, a

series of lower wedge links 2%, a series of upper wedge links 2%, and a segmental compression bar 210" are retained within the frame between the two plates by means of'bolts 212 that pass through the plates and the frame to secure them together, and through the plates and openings 214m the sides of the blade'segments. are. ofsmall diameter so that'the blade sections are free to move vertically with respect tothem between the plates.

The levelling operation of the composite blade is as follows: Suppose the blade wereto be dropped on a piece of stone that had a high spot'wherethe segment 234::

t struck. This segment 204a would be forced in an upward direction and would carry the lower link 26 6a upwardly. As it did so, the upper links,.which'rest on the com pression bar 210, to the .left and-to the right of link 206a tend to; be drawn towards link Ziifid as shown by the direction of the arrows. The end linksiofthe series 2%: would tend to force themselves'againstthe wedge sur- 7 faces of the compression bar 21d; This bar, however, is rigid against compression with the result that the lower links 206 on each side of link 266a are forced in a downward direction whereby to lower the blade sections to the I right and to the left of the .blade section 204a to follow the contour ofrthe piece of stone being split.

Alternative methods to the link arrangement illustrated in FIGURE 5 are shown in FIGURES 6 and 7. In FIGURE 6, I illustrate a chain 301?} that extends around steel balls 382 and a compression bar 334 which is the equivalent of the bar 2113. The blades are again illustrated by the numeral 204- and are held in the assembly and align themselves with a surface in asimilar'way.

A similar effect is achieved with the arrangement illustrated in FIGURE 11 in which the tension chain 4% extends around the points of the compression bar 492.

to those skilled in the art.

One

The bolts 7 What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a device for splitting stone a frame, a lower splitting blade housing, a lower splitting blade in said lower splitting blade housing, an upper splitting blade housing, an upper splitting blade in said upper splitting blade housing, said lower splitting blade housing being mounted in saidsframe, means for reciprocating said upper splitting blade housing within said frame to carry said upper splitting blade into splitting co-operation with said lower splitting blade, a feed table for advancing stone between said blades, said feed table having a forward edge in' close parallel relationship to said lower splitting blade, said feed table being movable in said frame between a first normal position in which at least the forward edges thereof are at a higher level than said lower blade to a second position in which the forward edge of said feed table is lower than said lower blade, and means responsive to the reciprocation of said upper blade housing as said upper blade housing is moved toward said lower blade for lowering said feed table from said first position to said second position to permit a piece of stone to engage with said lower blade prior to engagement therewith of said movable blade in use, said feed table being spring urged to said first position, and said means for cyclically lowering said table from said first position to said second position being carried by said upper splitting blade housing.

2. A device for splitting stone as claimed in claim 1 in which said feed table is hinged in said frame adjacent its rearward edge.

3. A device for splitting stone as claimed in claim 1 having a delivery table on the opposite side of said lower splitting blade to said feed table, said delivery table being movably mountedwithin said frame and having an edge in close parallel relationship to said lower blade, said delivery table being movable in said 6 in which said edge is lower than said rigid blade, said delivery table being adapted to move between said two positions as said feed table moves between its said two positions. V

4. In a device [for splitting stone a frame, a lower splitting blade housing, a lower splitting blade in said lower splitting blade housing, an upper splitting blade housing, an upper splitting blade in said upper splitting blade housing, said lower splitting blade housing being mounted in said frame, means for reciprocating said upper splitting blade housing within said frame to carry said upper splitting blade into splitting co-operation with said lower splitting blade, a feed table for advancing stone between 'said blades, said feed table having a forward edge in close parallel relationship to said lower splitting blade, said feed table being movable in said frame between a first normal position in which at least the forward edges thereof are at a higher level than said lower blade to a second position in which the forward edge of saidfeed table is lower than said lower blade, and means responsive to the reciprocation of said upper blade housing as said upper blade housing is moved toward said lower blade for lowering said feed table from said first position to said second position to permit a piece of stone to engage with said lower blade prior to engagement therewith of said movable blade in use, said means for cyclically reciprocating said upper blade housing being mounted above the level of the said upper blade, and including a crank, means for turning said crank, a crank rod depending from said crank, said crank rod connecting with said upper blade housing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,746,447 Petch May 22, 1956 2,819,710 Mangis Jan. 14, 1958 2,881,753 Entz Apr. 14, 1959 2,882,888 Saloga Apr. 21, 1959 2,912,970 Schlough Nov. 17, 1959 

1. IN A DEVICE FOR SPLITTING STONE A FRAME, A LOWER SPLITTING BLADE HOUSING, A LOWER SPLITTING BLADE IN SAID LOWER SPLITTING BLADE HOUSING, AN UPPER SPLITTING BLADE HOUSING, AN UPPER SPLITTING BLADE IN SAID UPPER SPLITTING BLADE HOUSING, SAID LOWER SPLITTING BLADE HOUSING BEING MOUNTED IN SAID FRAME, MEANS FOR RECIPROCATING SAID UPPER SPLITTING BLADE HOUSING WITHIN SAID FRAME TO CARRY SAID UPPER SPLITTING BLADE INTO SPLITTING CO-OPERATION WITH SAID LOWER SPLITTING BLADE, A FEED TABLE FOR ADVANCING STONE BETWEEN SAID BLADES, SAID FEED TABLE HAVING A FORWARD EDGE IN CLOSE PARALLEL RELATIONSHIP TO SAID LOWER SPLITTING BLADE, SAID FEED TABLE BEING MOVABLE IN SAID FRAME BETWEEN A FIRST NORMAL POSITION IN WHICH AT LEAST THE FORWARD EDGES THEREOF ARE AT A HIGHER LEVEL THAN SAID LOWER BLADE TO A SECOND POSITION IN WHICH THE FORWARD EDGE OF SAID FEED TABLE IS LOWER THAN SAID LOWER BLADE, AND MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE RECIPROCATION OF SAID UPPER BLADE HOUSING AS SAID UPPER BLADE HOUSING IS MOVED TOWARD SAID LOWER BLADE FOR LOWERING SAID FEED TABLE FROM SAID FIRST POSITION TO SAID SECOND POSITION TO PERMIT A PIECE OF STONE TO ENGAGE WITH SAID LOWER BLADE PRIOR TO ENGAGEMENT THEREWITH OF SAID MOVABLE BLADE IN USE, SAID FEED TABLE BEING SPRING URGED TO SAID FIRST POSITION, AND SAID MEANS FOR CYCLICALLY LOWERING SAID TABLE FROM SAID FIRST POSITION TO SAID SECOND POSITION BEING CARRIED BY SAID UPPER SPLITTING BLADE HOUSING. 